Residents of a Durham area raw milk farm say representatives of the province conducted an early morning search warrant on their property recently.
Elisa Vander Hout says before dawn on October 27th, uniformed men and women arrived. She says they left a ‘piece of paper’ at the door, explaining, “Because we refused to let them in, and then they broke into our facilities and helped themselves to whatever they thought they needed to take.”
When contacted by Bayshore News, the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) responded by email saying, “The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs is aware of this matter. The Ministry is unable to comment further as this matter is currently under investigation.”
Upon further questioning, OMAFRA did state that an injunction is in place against Glencolton Farms. The 2018 injunction restrains it from selling, delivering or distributing unpasteurized milk or cream products in a plant that is not licenced under the Milk Act and that is not exempt by the ‘family farm exemption.’
West Grey Police Chief Robert Martin says officers were present, and explains, “Our only purpose there was to keep the peace and ensure people are safe.” Martin says police were not there to investigate and his police service did not have warrants.
When asked on the day of the raid by Bayshore Broadcasting News what was on the piece of paper, Vander Hout said, “I don’t know, I don’t really want to accept anything from them. This is my private property. They have no right to be here. I didn’t invite them.”
She adds, “They’ve committed a crime against us by way of harm. They’ve harmed us by barratry and by theft.”
Vander Hout’s spouse and raw milk producer Michael Schmidt has been battling the courts since 1994 for the right to produce unpasteurized milk.
The sale or distribution of raw milk is prohibited in Ontario because of health concerns, but possession and consumption of unpasteurized milk is not illegal in Ontario. The Canadian government says pasteurizing milk (heating it to a certain temperature) kills food borne diseases and still maintains the milk’s nutritional value.
Unpasteurized milk advocates feel raw milk has more nutrients and health benefits than pasteurized milk. Vander Hout says, “It has very good value for the body and the rest of it is whatever they want to speculate.”
The farm has been in the news many times before, and three other search warrants have been executed there over the past 27 years.
Six years ago, Schmidt was charged in relation to one of those searches. In 2015, when OMAFRA, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry and other officials tried to seize equipment and evidence from Glencolton Farms, owners of the cows on-site blocked the police and the Ministry of Agriculture and Food and Rural Affairs as well as the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry from taking things off the farm.
A few of them were charged along with Schmidt. Eventually, the charges against the others were all dropped.
Schmidt however, was convicted of obstruction of justice and sentenced in Walkerton court in 2018 to two months of intermittent jail time to be served on weekends in relation to the incident. That was appealed and became a sentence of one month house-arrest, which was again appealed.
In 2018, an injunction had been sought by The Regional Municipality of York, the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit, and the Regional Municipality of Peel to stop the operation of the milk plant at Glencolton Farms.
87 affidavits were entered in support of Schmidt, Vander Hout and Agri-Cultural Renewal Co-Operative Inc.
The Newmarket Court found them to be in violation of the Milk Act and the Health Protection and Promotion Act (HPPA) and said an injunction should be granted. The court decided the ‘family farm exemption didn’t apply to their activities. The injunction was appealed, and was pending an application made by the farmers to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.
The application to the Superior Court of Justice was heard in November 2020, and claimed they should be allowed to purchase raw milk as a matter of freedom of conscience because it has substantiated health benefits not found in pasteurized milk. The farmers argued the federal regulation and provincial statute prohibiting the sale and distribution of unpasteurized milk is in violation of their freedom of conscience, protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In February 2021, that application was dismissed by the court and the injunction, according to OMAFRA remains in place.
Asked what she will do next, Vander Hout says, “I have to assert myself as a woman on the earth and they need to respect that this is private property.”
“Men and women have rights and we need to assert those,” says Vander Hout. She adds, “I haven’t caused anybody any harm so they have no business doing anything here.”
Vander Hout says Schmidt recently wrote a book called ‘Raw Milk and the Search for Human Kindness; Overcoming Fear and Complacency.’ It was published in June 2020 and is being sold privately by Schmidt and Vander Hout.
